I'm trying to play a round of EnderBall with some friends (you become the ball and try to shoot yourself into 'buckets'), but I'm having a devil of a time getting any Ender pearls. I'm finding Endermen, but as soon as I attack them, they either teleport away and don't come back, or don't drop anything when I kill them.

I've been using a diamond sword with knockback, looting and sharpness, as well as another one with just fire aspect. Also tried using a steel sword, which just has sharpness. The thing is, once in a while I do manage to get one, but only after killing dozens of them.

Are there certain enchantments that cause Endermen to decide not to engage? Does looting not up your chances of them dropping an Ender pearl? I've tried using swords that aren't enchanted, but encountering Endermen is somewhat sporadic and difficult to test if it's just random behavior or the enchantments.

Behavior seems consistent with or without mods loaded, but again - hard to tell because they aren't as likely to spawn as others. I seem to remember them both dropping and engaging much more frequently, prior to managing to get better stuff.

3 Answers
3

If Endermen take any form of environmental damage (fire, water/rain), they teleport away and lose all interest in everyone who might have hit them before. so if you hit them with a fire sword, they will start burning and immediately teleport randomly for a few times until the fire goes out. If no environmental damage is dealt, they will pursuit you until they kill you or you run out of range.

Enderman as well have the habit to stand still then teleport if you stare into their eyes then lose contact. This can cause them to teleport around frequently during battle, so try to look down at their feet. In addition the teleport is in all directions, so they could be above you or below you in a cave after a teleport, unable to reach you until you get out of range.

The easiest way to kill an Enderman is to use their size against them. Build a 3x3 ceiling at 2 blocks height so that you barely fit under it. Then pull an Enderman to this location and he will keep running against the ceiling, unable to hit you and unable to look at you, while you can easily finish him off. You can as well use natural ceilings (leaves, rocks) at the same height instead of building one. Use a looting sword for increased chance to drop.

If you have any form of teleportation mod installed, you can do the same in the End world, which will thanks to the huge amount of Enderman gain you pearls very quickly. If the dragon is still alive, things get a lot more difficult. Then you need to find a location where the dragon is out of range. In some End worlds this is possible, in others the island is just too small for that.

I experimented a few times (difficult with Endermen) - apparently they will teleport back even after taking fire damage in the Nether, but not in the overworld. Reproduced twice, but in Minecraft, that's barely better than anecdotal :)
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Tim Post♦Apr 28 '14 at 16:11

Most enchantments won't make the endermen specifically flee, knockback will obviously knock them back and might make them teleport if you end up looking at them because of that. They will normally return for more fighting though. If you knock them back into water they will teleport away and won't return for more fighting.

The only enchantment that will make them flee is fire aspect. Endermen who are on fire will teleport every damage tick. And since fire is an enviromental hazard, they won't return after the fire goes out.

The best way to farm for enderpearls is killing endermen with a looting III sword. And the best place to find lots of endermen is in The End.

To my knowledge, enchantments will have nothing to do with agro in mobs (At this moment in time). The most effective way is to aim for the lower legs of the enderman as it doesn't register as you looking directly at it when you strike it so it wont teleport away. As for the pearl drops, it's all up to the RNGesus whether you get one or not, but just keep grinding and you'll likely get one. If you need to farm lots of them make your way to the End and create an enderman farm as they will definitely get you a lot of pearls.